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HealthCare Chaplaincy Fact SheetHealthCare Chaplaincy in New York is a multifaith leader in improving patient care by integrating spirituality intohealth care and palliative care through research, education and clinical practice.Mission StatementTo improve the effectiveness and efficiency of health care through the innovative ways chaplains promote and advancepalliative care research, education and practice.About Palliative CareWorld Health Organization (WHO) definition: “Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients andtheir families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering bymeans of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical,psychosocial and spiritual.”Palliative care is appropriate when receiving treatment intended to cure, for when an illness is chronic, or near end of life.Palliative care relieves suffering and matches treatment to what the patient and family choose based on knowing andunderstanding what those choices are. Palliative care is team care involving a physician, nurse, professional chaplain,social worker and others. It encompasses the whole person – body, mind, and spirit.The third (2013) edition of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care issued by the National ConsensusProject for Quality Palliative Care states that ideally the interdisciplinary palliative care team should include a boardcertified, professional chaplain and that spirituality is a “fundamental aspect of compassionate, patient and family centeredcare that honors the dignity of all persons.”About Professional ChaplainsWhen someone is coping with illness, trauma, or grief, they most often have a source of spiritual strength which may ornot be grounded in religious belief. Professional chaplains are the specialists on the health care team who help peopleidentify and draw upon that spiritual strength to find meaning and comfort while doctors and nurses focus on the body.A professional, board certified health care chaplain is one of the most cost-effective resources to facilitate communicationand increase patient, family, and staff satisfaction. Research shows that professional chaplains working as members ofthe health care team:Improve patient and family satisfaction by helping them address emotional and spiritual needs.Facilitate end-of-life care discussions for patients that can influence goals of care, hospice enrollment, and betterpatient quality of life near deathOne becomes a professional chaplain when he or she is board certified by one of the professional associations.Requirements include graduate level study, 1600 hours of supervised clinical training, demonstration of competenciesthrough a rigorous peer review process, and adherence to the professional code of ethics.HCC fact sheet (June 2013) Page 1 of 2

A professional chaplain:Serves of any religion or no religion.Does not proselytize or promote any particular faith tradition.Is an objective mediator who helps defuse conflicts and crises through facilitating communication and culturalsensitivityGains new skills through continuing professional education.ResearchIn 2011 the John Templeton Foundation selected HealthCare Chaplaincy (HCC) to manage a three-year $3 million grantto identify and explore hypotheses about chaplains’ contributions to palliative care and build a community of researchers,including professional chaplains, to grow the field of research on spiritual care in palliative care.HCC staff has published close to 100 research articles on different aspects of spirituality and health in peer-reviewedscientific journals in medicine, nursing, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and chaplaincy/pastoral care.EducationHCC is one of the largest and most experienced providers of clinical pastoral education, and is accredited by theAssociation for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.HCC and The California State University Institute for Palliative Care – two leaders in their fields – have joined forces tocreate a new online certificate course to train chaplains and other spiritual care providers in effective delivery of palliativecare to patients and their families in hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, and elsewhere.HCC publishes PlainViews ® , the preeminent online professional journal for chaplains and other spiritual care providers.Sample issue here: http://bit.ly/JPLHtj Website: http://bit.ly/LzsBDoClinical PracticeSince 1961, HealthCare Chaplaincy’s professional chaplains, have helped close to 6 million patients, family and staffcoping with life-changing health situations find meaning and comfort – whatever their faith, beliefs or culture – inhospitals, academic medical centers, long-term care facilities, and outpatient settings. HCC’s partner institutions includeBeth Israel Medical Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, Lawrence Hospital Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York Hospital Queens, NYU Langone Medical Center, St. Luke’s-RooseveltHospital Center, St. Mary’s Center, and Winthrop-University Hospital.A National Model – In DevelopmentHealthCare Chaplaincy is developing the National Center for Palliative Care Innovation, including a 120-unit enhancedassisted living residence for people with serious, chronic illnesses who can no longer live independently. The NationalCenter will demonstrate how ill people in their final years can live with excellent medical care combined with grace,dignity, and emotional and spiritual support.Website: www.healthcarechaplaincy.orgContact:comm@healthcarechaplaincy.orgor 212-644-1111 x141Subscribe to the free e-newsletterHealthCare Chaplaincy Today:http://bit.ly/hycJ2OFollow on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/healthcarechaplaincy, and Twitter http://twitter.com/MeaningComfortHealthCare Chaplaincy is a nonprofit organization that depends on the generous support of its contributors to fulfill its mission.You can donate securely online at http://bit.ly/TEjjf7HCC fact sheet (June 2013) Page 2 of 2